Investigating the Relationship Between Self-Perceived Moral Superiority and Moral Behavior Using Economic Games

Investigating the Relationship Between Self-Perceived Moral Superiority and Moral Behavior Using Economic Games. Ben M. Tappin, Ryan T. McKay. Social Psychological and Personality Science,  https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617750736

Abstract: Most people report that they are superior to the average person on various moral traits. The psychological causes and social consequences of this phenomenon have received considerable empirical attention. The behavioral correlates of self-perceived moral superiority (SPMS), however, remain unknown. We present the results of two preregistered studies (Study 1, N = 827; Study 2, N = 825), in which we indirectly assessed participants’ SPMS and used two incentivized economic games to measure their engagement in moral behavior. Across studies, SPMS was unrelated to trust in others and to trustworthiness, as measured by the trust game, and unrelated to fairness, as measured by the dictator game. This pattern of findings was robust to a range of analyses, and, in both studies, Bayesian analyses indicated moderate support for the null over the alternative hypotheses. We interpret and discuss these findings and highlight interesting avenues for future research on this topic.

Keywords: moral superiority, self-perception, traits, behavior, economic games

Men are presented with higher facial prominence than women in the media (this is called face-ism) -- In lab, as expected, men cropped their photos with higher facial prominence than women did

Self-presentation in Online Professional Networks: Men's Higher and Women's Lower Facial Prominence in Self-created Profile Images. Sabine Sczesny and Michèle C. Kaufmann. Front. Psychol., January 17 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02295

Men are presented with higher facial prominence than women in the media, a phenomenon that is called face-ism. In naturalistic settings, face-ism effects could be driven by gender biases of photographers and/or by gender differences in self-presentation. The present research is the first to investigate whether women and men themselves create this different facial prominence. In a controlled laboratory study, 61 participants prepared a picture of themselves from a half-body photograph, allegedly to be uploaded to their profile for an online professional network. As expected, men cropped their photos with higher facial prominence than women did. However, women and men did not differ in the self-presentational motivations, goals, strategies, and personality variables under investigation, so that the observed face-ism effect could not be explained with these variables. Generally, the higher participants' physical appearance self-esteem, the higher was their self-created facial prominence.

The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes’ Steadfast Factual Adherence

The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes’ Steadfast Factual Adherence. Thomas Wood,  Ethan Porter. Political Behavior, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-018-9443-y

Abstract: Can citizens heed factual information, even when such information challenges their partisan and ideological attachments? The “backfire effect,” described by Nyhan and Reifler (Polit Behav 32(2):303–330.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9112-2, 2010), says no: rather than simply ignoring factual information, presenting respondents with facts can compound their ignorance. In their study, conservatives presented with factual information about the absence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq became more convinced that such weapons had been found. The present paper presents results from five experiments in which we enrolled more than 10,100 subjects and tested 52 issues of potential backfire. Across all experiments, we found no corrections capable of triggering backfire, despite testing precisely the kinds of polarized issues where backfire should be expected. Evidence of factual backfire is far more tenuous than prior research suggests. By and large, citizens heed factual information, even when such information challenges their ideological commitments.

Artificial Intelligence And the Challenges of Detecting Rude Conversational Behaviour

On the Challenges of Detecting Rude Conversational Behaviour. Karan Grewal, Khai N. Truong. arXiv.org Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction, arXiv:1712.09929 [cs.HC], https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.09929

Abstract: In this study, we aim to identify moments of rudeness between two individuals. In particular, we segment all occurrences of rudeness in conversations into three broad, distinct categories and try to identify each. We show how machine learning algorithms can be used to identify rudeness based on acoustic and semantic signals extracted from conversations. Furthermore, we make note of our shortcomings in identifying rudeness in conversations.

Introduction

One-on-one interactions are important in everyday social settings. For instance, in order to attract a potential partner, it is imperative that an individual behave in an appropriate manner. Unfortunately, one-on-one interactions can often result in one party exhibiting rude or inappropriate conversational behaviour. In many cases, the offending party is not aware of the severity of their actions and does not intend to offend the other party. For example, certain individuals may be socially unaware of how others perceive their behaviour. Individuals with learning disabilities, such as autism, may follow this trend. Likewise, young children often lack awareness of their behaviour { a possible explanation for the presence of bullying in elementary schools and why children are generally regarded as immature. In both cases, monitoring a user's conversational behaviour and making them aware of it via active feedback while they are engaged in a one-on-one interaction would be helpful towards correcting their behaviour in such scenarios.

In the last century, there has been a lot of work in the linguistics and psychology domains which attempt to define politeness and acceptable behaviour pertaining to two-person interactions. The most popular of these is Penelope Brown and Steven Levinson's Politeness theory [2]. This theory states that all individuals have two faces: a positive self-image which is the desire to be approved by others, and a negative self-image which is the desire of actions to be unimpeded by others. According to Politeness theory, any external actions which threaten one or more of an individual's faces, such disrespectful gestures, constitute impoliteness. Also, Geoffrey Leech's principle of politeness states that if two individuals are interacting, then there will be some form of disagreement or tension if both individuals are pursuing mutually-incompatible goals -- likening the chance of rude behaviour [8]. Here, goals refers to a psychological state of being. In contrast, Bruce Fraser argues against the theories formulated by Leech, Brown, and Levinson by pointing out that each culture has its own set of social norms which define acceptable behaviour [6]. Therefore, as Fraser argues, the question of whether an individual is behaving in an inappropriate manner is entirely dependent on the context of his/her actions. This view aligns with Robin Lako's notable example of the speaking style in New York [7].  As she states, New Yorkers often use profanity in a casual sense without any intent to offend or be impolite.  However, their conversational behaviour is likely to be interpreted as rude in other cultures.

Is there a grounded definition of rudeness with respect to speech which can be derived from classical theories of politeness? In this study, we define define the notion of rude conversational behaviour and explore methods to identify this type of behaviour in two-person interactions. We do this by extracting acoustic and semantic information from an individual's speech and develop methods which attempt to pinpoint exact instances of rude conversational behaviour. Also, we highlight some existing problems which make the task at hand dicult through our findings. Note that we only focus on signals extracted speech data.

Do the media unintentionally make mass killers into celebrities? An assessment of free advertising and earned media value

Do the media unintentionally make mass killers into celebrities? An assessment of free advertising and earned media value. Adam Lankford. Celebrity Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2017.1422984

ABSTRACT: In recent years, some critics have suggested that the media make mass killers into celebrities by giving them too much attention. However, whether the media coverage these offenders receive actually approaches the amounts given to celebrities has never been tested. This study compared perpetrators of seven mass killings during 2013–2017 with more than 600 celebrities over the same time period. Findings indicate that the mass killers received approximately $75 million in media coverage value, and that for extended periods following their attacks they received more coverage than professional athletes and only slightly less than television and film stars. In addition, during their attack months, some mass killers received more highly valued coverage than some of the most famous American celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Jennifer Aniston. Finally, most mass killers received more coverage from newspapers and broadcast/cable news than the public interest they generated through online searches and Twitter seems to warrant. Unfortunately, this media attention constitutes free advertising for mass killers that may increase the likelihood of copycats.

KEYWORDS: Mass shooters, media coverage, celebrity culture, fame, advertising

Dreaming of a Brighter Future: Anticipating Happiness Instills Meaning in Life

Dreaming of a Brighter Future: Anticipating Happiness Instills Meaning in Life. Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg and Eric R. Igou. Journal of Happiness Studies, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-9960-8

Abstract: We theorized and tested that people’s predictions of their future as brighter than the present fulfill an important purpose: they give a sense of meaning to life. We systematically tested this existentialist hypothesis by adopting a self-regulatory approach. Study 1 indicates that envisioning a happier future helps people to find meaning in everyday life behaviors, provided that these are perceived to be instrumental for the pursuit of happiness. Consistently, Study 2 shows that envisioning such increases in future happiness is particularly employed by those who are prone to seek meaning in life. Finally, Study 3 reveals that after people envision a brighter future their perceived meaning in life increases, and it does so especially for those prone to search for meaning in life. Together, these studies suggest that imagining future happiness in part serves the function of perceiving life as meaningful. This research is novel, and builds on and contributes to the literature on meaning making, happiness, well-being, and affective forecasting.

Check also Rolf Degen: The joy of things to come: Anticipatory pleasure confers an euphoric bliss that can go far beyond the enjoyment of wish fulfillment, Oct 8, 2014, https://plus.google.com/101046916407340625977/posts/7XyDuM6k5fF

Male Qualities and Likelihood of Orgasm

Male Qualities and Likelihood of Orgasm. James M. Sherlock, Morgan J Sidari. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322036644_Male_Qualities_and_Likelihood_of_Orgasm. In T.K. Shackelford, V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_278-1

Introduction

In contrast to male orgasm, the female orgasm is enormously variable in frequency during penetrative sex. While men almost always ejaculate during penile-vaginal intercourse, women orgasm far less frequently from penetrative sex alone and experience significant variation in orgasm frequency with different partners (Lloyd 2005).

While variation in women’s orgasm frequency is poorly understood, evolutionary psychology tends to view variation in behavior as adaptive and responsive to environmental conditions.

Current evolutionary theories regarding the female orgasm can be broadly divided into two positions: those that focus on selection on male sexual function and those that focus on selection on female sexual function. The by-product hypothesis concerns the former and posits that the capacity of women to experience orgasm is a consequence of strong selection pressure on males’ capacity to reach orgasm. This position is based on similarities between male and female orgasm as well as the observation that the male glans penis and female clitoris arise from homologous tissue during development. In contrast, the mate choice hypothesis argues that variation in female orgasm frequency during sexual intercourse is reflective of varying quality of their male partners. Increased orgasm frequency with men possessing desirable traits ought to promote repeated copulations, thus increasing the likelihood of impregnation. This position can be further distinguished by predictions regarding which male traits are likely to influence orgasm frequency.

Synonyms: Attractiveness; Cryptic Female Choice; Facial Attractiveness; Female Copulatory Orgasm; Female Mate Choice; Mate selection; Orgasm; Pair-bonding; The Evolution of Genitalia

Mean global ocean temperatures during the last glacial transition

Mean global ocean temperatures during the last glacial transition. Bernhard Bereiter et al. Nature 553, 39–44, doi:10.1038/nature25152

Abstract: Little is known about the ocean temperature’s long-term response to climate perturbations owing to limited observations and a lack of robust reconstructions. Although most of the anthropogenic heat added to the climate system has been taken up by the ocean up until now, its role in a century and beyond is uncertain. Here, using noble gases trapped in ice cores, we show that the mean global ocean temperature increased by 2.57 ± 0.24 degrees Celsius over the last glacial transition (20,000 to 10,000 years ago). Our reconstruction provides unprecedented precision and temporal resolution for the integrated global ocean, in contrast to the depth-, region-, organism- and season-specific estimates provided by other methods. We find that the mean global ocean temperature is closely correlated with Antarctic temperature and has no lead or lag with atmospheric CO2, thereby confirming the important role of Southern Hemisphere climate in global climate trends. We also reveal an enigmatic 700-year warming during the early Younger Dryas period (about 12,000 years ago) that surpasses estimates of modern ocean heat uptake.

Is Legal Pot Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organisations? The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on US Crime

I abhor marijuana and the other drugs, but I am not blind to information that seems to confirm what libertarians keep saying for decades:

Gavrilova, E., Kamada, T. and Zoutman, F. (2017), Is Legal Pot Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organisations? The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on US Crime. Econ J. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12521

Abstract: We show that the introduction of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) leads to a decrease in violent crime in states that border Mexico. The reduction in crime is strongest for counties close to the border (less than 350 kilometres) and for crimes that relate to drug trafficking. In addition, we find that MMLs in inland states lead to a reduction in crime in the nearest border state. Our results are consistent with the theory that decriminalisation of the production and distribution of marijuana leads to a reduction in violent crime in markets that are traditionally controlled by Mexican drug trafficking organisations.

Brooks on Deneen's Why Liberalism Failed -- Unreliable classical virtue vs steady selfishness and instant gratification

How Democracies Perish. David Brooks. The New York Times, January 12, 2018, on Page A23 of the New York edition
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/opinion/how-democracies-perish.html

Everybody agrees society is in a bad way, but what exactly is the main cause of the badness? Some people emphasize economic issues: The simultaneous concentration of wealth at the top and the stagnation in the middle has delegitimized the system. People like me emphasize cultural issues. If you have 60 years of radical individualism and ruthless meritocracy, you’re going to end up with a society that is atomized, distrustful and divided.

But some emphasize the intellectual. The people who designed our liberal democratic system made fundamental errors, which are now coming home to roost. Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen falls into this camp. His new book, “Why Liberalism Failed,” is a challenge to those of us who want to revive the liberal democratic order. It will attract a cult following among those who are losing faith in the whole project.

Deneen argues that liberal democracy has betrayed its promises. It was supposed to foster equality, but it has led to great inequality and a new aristocracy. It was supposed to give average people control over government, but average people feel alienated from government. It was supposed to foster liberty, but it creates a degraded popular culture in which consumers become slave to their appetites.

Many young people feel trapped in a system they have no faith in. Deneen quotes one of his students: “Because we view humanity — and thus its institutions — as corrupt and selfish, the only person we can rely upon is our self. The only way we can avoid failure, being let down, and ultimately succumbing to the chaotic world around us, therefore, is to have the means (financial security) to rely only upon ourselves.”

The problem, Deneen argues, started at the beginning. Greek and medieval philosophies valued liberty, but they understood that before a person could help govern society, he had to be able to govern himself. People had to be habituated in virtue by institutions they didn’t choose — family, religion, community, social norms.

But under the influence of Machiavelli and Locke, the men who founded our system made two fateful errors. First, they came to reject the classical and religious idea that people are political and relational creatures. Instead, they placed the autonomous, choosing individual at the center of their view of human nature.

Furthermore, they decided you couldn’t base a system of government on something as unreliable as virtue. But you could base it on something low and steady like selfishness. You could pit interest against interest and create a stable machine. You didn’t have to worry about creating noble citizens; you could get by with rationally self-interested ones.

When communism and fascism failed in the 20th century, this version of liberalism seemed triumphant. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, Deneen argues.

Liberalism claims to be neutral but it’s really anti-culture. It detaches people from nature, community, tradition and place. It detaches people from time. “Gratitude to the past and obligations to the future are replaced by a nearly universal pursuit of immediate gratification.”

Once family and local community erode and social norms dissolve, individuals are left naked and unprotected. They seek solace in the state. They toggle between impersonal systems: globalized capitalism and the distant state. As the social order decays, people grasp for the security of authoritarianism. “A signal feature of modern totalitarianism was that it arose and came to power through the discontents of people’s isolation and loneliness,” he observes. He urges people to dedicate themselves instead to local community — a sort of Wendell Berry agrarianism.

Deneen’s book is valuable because it focuses on today’s central issue. The important debates now are not about policy. They are about the basic values and structures of our social order. Nonetheless, he is wrong. Liberal democracy has had a pretty good run for 300 years. If the problem were really in the roots, wouldn’t it have shown up before now?

The difficulties stem not from anything inherent in liberalism but from the fact that we have neglected the moral order and the vision of human dignity embedded within liberalism itself. As anybody who’s read John Stuart Mill, Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln, Vaclav Havel, Michael Novak and Meir Soloveichik knows, liberal democracy contains a rich and soul-filling version of human flourishing and solidarity, which Deneen airbrushes from history.

Every time Deneen writes about virtue it tastes like castor oil — self-denial and joylessness. But the liberal democratic moral order stands for the idea that souls are formed in freedom and not in servility, in expansiveness, not in stagnation. It stands for the idea that our covenantal institutions — like family, faith, tradition and community — orient us toward higher loves and common dreams that we then pursue in the great gymnasium of liberty.

Yes, liberalism sometimes sits in tension with faith, tradition, family and community, which Deneen rightly cherishes. But liberalism is not their murderer. Right now, there are community healers in towns and cities concretely living out the liberal democratic vision of the good life — deeply embedded in their communities, surrendered to their ideals, reaching out to other communities, growing in their freedom.

We don’t have to settle for smallness.

Pre-industrial societies which base their subsistence on agro-pastoralism have higher rates of internal and external violent conflict, & stronger male-male competition, than hunting+gathering societies

Implications of the Neolithic Revolution for Male-Male Competition and Violent Conflict. Menelaos Apostolou. Mankind Quarterly, Volume 58, No. 2, http://www.mankindquarterly.org/archive/issue/58-2/2

Abstract: Ecological differences between societies that base their subsistence on hunting and gathering, as opposed to agriculture and animal husbandry, result in different rates of violent conflict. The aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis that pre-industrial societies which base their subsistence on agro-pastoralism have higher rates of internal and external violent conflict, and consequently experience stronger male-male competition, than societies which base their subsistence on hunting and gathering. Analysis of 19 variables from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample provides strong support for this hypothesis. Based on these findings, it is argued that the agropastoral revolution has resulted in the strengthening of male-male competition. The consequences on mate choice due to the mismatch between ancestral conditions, where violent male-male competition had been generally strong, and contemporary conditions where it is extremely weak, are also explored.

Both sexes demonstrated significant increases in sexual arousal with explicit videos, regardless of film orientation

Assessing differences in physiologic subjective response toward male and female orientated sexually explicit videos in heterosexual individuals. Samantha Landry, Melissa K. Goncalves, Tuuli M. Kukkonen. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. 25, No. 3, https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.253-A4

Abstract: The goal of the present study was to examine sexual response to male- and female- oriented sexually explicit films in heterosexual men and women. Forty participants (20 men and 20 women; mean age=29.42 years) attended three separate lab sessions. One 15 minute sexually explicit video was shown per session. For session one, all participants viewed a female-oriented film selected by the experimenters. The films used for subsequent sessions were counterbalanced male-oriented or female-oriented clips that had been previously studied. A thermographic camera measured temperature on the penile shaft for men and labia for women. Continuous and discrete self-reported sexual arousal was also obtained. Genital temperature was averaged into 15 one-minute bins and a repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted. Men demonstrated significantly greater increases in temperature over time than women, F (14, 980)=19.27, p=.000, however there were no significant differences between films or sex × film interaction. Women reported significantly higher subjective sexual arousal to the films than men, F (1, 69) range=3.89 to 9.67, p range=.01 to .05, but there were no significant differences between films or a sex × film interaction. Results suggest that film orientation has minimal impact on physiologic sexual responsiveness in men or women. Although both sexes demonstrated significant increases in sexual arousal for these pre-selected films, future laboratory research would benefit from examining whether participant-selected stimuli produces a greater response than experimenter-selected films.

KEY WORDS: thermography, non-preferred and preferred stimuli, sexual arousal, and sexual response, sexually explicit videos

High Heritability of Adolescent Sleep-Wake Behavior on Free, but not School Days: A Long-Term Twin Study

High Heritability of Adolescent Sleep-Wake Behavior on Free, but not School Days: A Long-Term Twin Study. A P Inderkum and L Tarokh. Sleep, zsy004, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy004

Abstract: Adolescence development is characterized by significant changes in sleep biology. Despite an overall decline in sleep duration and a delay in bedtime, significant inter-individual variation in sleep has been reported. The aim of the current study was to examine genetic and environmental influences on sleep in adolescence using long-term (6-month) actigraphy measurements, differentiating between school and free days. Sixteen monozygotic (MZ; n = 32) and 10 dizygotic (DZ; n = 20) twin pairs (mean age 12.8 ± 1.0 years; 25 female) participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to compute genetic, shared environmental and unique environmental contributors to sleep behavior. We found significantly more genetic influence on sleep timing (sleep midpoint; school: 14%, free: 90%) and duration (school: 15%; free: 68%) on free as compared to school days. On the other hand, the genetic influence on measures of sleep quality (sleep efficiency and sleep onset latency) was high (> 60%) and less dependent on the day of measurement. Only wake after sleep onset (WASO) exhibited a strong shared environmental influence (> 52%) on both school and free days, suggesting that behavioral/environmental interventions may help reduce WASO. In addition, self-reported chronotype was also highly genetically influenced (75%). Disrupted, ill-timed and insufficient sleep in adolescence is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes. Our findings of a strong genetic contribution to sleep in adolescence suggest that sleep may mark a genetic vulnerability to poor outcomes.

Keywords: actigraphy, adolescents, twin, genetic, heritability, sleep

Check also Sleep Duration, Mortality, and Heredity—A Prospective Twin Study. Torbjörn Åkerstedt, Jurgita Narusyte, Kristina Alexanderson, Pia Svedberg. Sleep, Volume 40, Issue 10, October 01 2017, zsx135, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/sleep-duration-mortality-and-hereditya.html

To someone who said that with Islam there cannot be economic development

I replied to Agha H Amin (Pakistani Army officer, retired) Jan 13 2018:

Dear sir, I do not believe you need to abandon any religion (Islam in this case) to reach economic success. Just two things are needed to get on a fast track to developmenet: no marriage among cousins (http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/01/the-churches-bans-on-consanguineous.html) and marriage delays (http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/01/late-marriage-as-contributor-to.html).

For the record, I am an Atheist... But I do support religious people.

Check also: Some Root Causes of the Arab Revolution: Rising Literacy and a Shrinking Birth Rate (due to the first) http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2011/11/look-at-root-causes-of-arab-revolution.html

Late marriage as a contributor to the industrial revolution in England

Late marriage as a contributor to the industrial revolution in England. James Foreman-Peck and Peng Zhou. The Economic History Review. DOI: 10.1111/ehr.12651

Abstract: Was the European marriage pattern an important contributor to England's precocious economic development? This article examines this question by embedding the possibility in a historically substantiated demographic-economic model, supported by both cross-section and long time series evidence. Persistent high mortality and powerful mortality shocks in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries lowered life expectations. Subsequently increased life expectancy reduced the number of births necessary to achieve a given family size. Fewer births were achieved by a higher age at first marriage of females. Later marriage not only constrained population growth but also provided greater opportunities for female informal learning, especially through ‘service’. In a period when the family was the principal institution for socializing future workers, such learning was a significant contributor to the intergenerational transmission and accumulation of human capital. This article shows how, over the centuries, the gradual induced rise of human capital raised productivity and eventually brought about the industrial revolution. Without the contribution of late marriage to human capital accumulation broadly interpreted, real wages in England would not have increased strongly in the early nineteenth century and would have been much lower than actually achieved for several centuries.

Does Work Make Mothers Happy? Contrary to our expectations, homemaking was positively associated with happiness particularly among mothers who left higher quality employment for childcare

Does Work Make Mothers Happy? Dana Hamplova. Journal of Happiness Studies, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-9958-2

Abstract: The paper explores the link between employment and subjective well-being among mothers with children under 3 years of age. It uses a pooled sample from the ESS 2004–2014 data from 30 European countries. Analyzing multiple measures of subjective well-being, the paper shows that homemakers are generally happier than full-time workers. No significant differences between homemakers and part-time workers were found. Contrary to our expectations, homemaking was positively associated with happiness particularly among mothers who left higher quality employment for childcare. Though some variation across countries exists, it is not linked to the provision of formal childcare, duration of parental leave, or tax system.

Do psychopathic individuals possess a misaligned moral compass? A meta-analytic examination of psychopathy’s relations with moral judgment

Marshall, J., Watts, A. L., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2018). Do psychopathic individuals possess a misaligned moral compass? A meta-analytic examination of psychopathy’s relations with moral judgment. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 9(1), 40-50.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/per0000226

Abstract: Psychopathic individuals are often characterized as lacking a moral sense. Although this hypothesis has received ample experimental attention over the past decade, findings have been inconsistent. To elucidate the relationship between psychopathy and abnormal moral judgment, we conducted a meta-analysis of the research on psychopathy and morality-related variables (k = 23, N = 4376). A random effects model indicated a small but statistically significant relation between psychopathy and moral decision-making (rw = .16) and moral reasoning (rw = .10) tasks. These results reveal at best modest support for the common perception that psychopathic individuals fail to understand moral principles. A secondary meta-analysis (k = 9, N = 4294) of the growing body of literature on the relationship between psychopathy and moral reasoning on moral foundations measures provides preliminary evidence that psychopathic individuals may possess a differential set of “moral taste buds” than less psychopathic individuals. We discuss the implications of the results from both meta-analyses for models of the etiology of psychopathy and the criminal responsibility of psychopathic individuals.

The Churches' Bans on Consanguineous Marriages, Kin-Networks and Democracy

Schulz, Jonathan F., The Churches' Bans on Consanguineous Marriages, Kin-Networks and Democracy (January 19, 2017).  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2877828

Abstract: This paper tests the hypothesis that extended kin-groups, as characterized by a high level of cousin marriages, impact the proper functioning of formal institutions. Consistent with this hypothesis I find that countries with high cousin marriage rates exhibit a weak rule of law and are more likely autocratic. Further evidence comes from a quasi-natural experiment. In the early medieval ages the Church started to prohibit kin-marriages. Using the variation in the duration and extent of the Eastern and Western Churches’ bans on consanguineous marriages as instrumental variables, reveals highly significant point estimates of the percentage of cousin marriage on an index of democracy. An additional novel instrument, cousin-terms, strengthens this point: the estimates are very similar and do not rest on the European experience alone. Exploiting within country variation support these results. These findings point to the importance of marriage patterns for the proper functioning of formal institutions and democracy.

Keywords: Democracy, Family, Kin-groups, Church, Cousin-Marriage, Institutions

See also The Church's crusade against cousin-marriage did not create the Western nuclear family - Policy Tensor (substack.com). May 8 2021.

Our results challenge current theories that focus on deficits in emotional responsiveness as leading to the development of psychopathy

Facial responsiveness of psychopaths to the emotional expressions of others. Janina Künecke, Andreas Mokros, Sally Olderbak, Oliver Wilhelm. PLoS One, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190714

Abstract: Psychopathic individuals show selfish, manipulative, and antisocial behavior in addition to emotional detachment and reduced empathy. Their empathic deficits are thought to be associated with a reduced responsiveness to emotional stimuli. Immediate facial muscle responses to the emotional expressions of others reflect the expressive part of emotional responsiveness and are positively related to trait empathy. Empirical evidence for reduced facial muscle responses in adult psychopathic individuals to the emotional expressions of others is rare. In the present study, 261 male criminal offenders and non-offenders categorized dynamically presented facial emotion expressions (angry, happy, sad, and neutral) during facial electromyography recording of their corrugator muscle activity. We replicated a measurement model of facial muscle activity, which controls for general facial responsiveness to face stimuli, and modeled three correlated emotion-specific factors (i.e., anger, happiness, and sadness) representing emotion specific activity. In a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, we compared the means of the anger, happiness, and sadness latent factors between three groups: 1) non-offenders, 2) low, and 3) high psychopathic offenders. There were no significant mean differences between groups. Our results challenge current theories that focus on deficits in emotional responsiveness as leading to the development of psychopathy and encourage further theoretical development on deviant emotional processes in psychopathic individuals.

The economics of corporate lobbying: Lobbying does not appear to bring significant tangible benefits in terms of award of government contracts or the success in getting bills passed by the US Congress

The economics of corporate lobbying. lZhiyan Cao et al. Journal of Corporate Finance, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.12.012

Highlights
•    Corporate lobbying is negatively associated with firm performance in an average firm.
•    Performance effects of corporate lobbying vary by firm characteristics
•    Firms with complex operations appear to lose when spend more on lobbying
•    Firms with high growth opportunities are likely to benefit from lobbying
•    Lobbying does not appear to bring significant tangible benefits in terms of award of government contracts or the success in getting bills passed by the US Congress.
•    Political alignment between a firm and the party in government appear to bring some benefits to the firm contributing to PACs associated with the party in power.
•    Primary results are robust to various econometric methods that are used to mitigate potential endogeneity concerns, sensitivity analyses and sample selection concerns.

Abstract: Prior literature examines motivations and impact of corporate lobbying and presents inconclusive evidence. We examine the association of corporate lobbying with firm performance by focusing on how this relationship varies by firm characteristics. Addressing various endogeneity concerns, our analysis shows that corporate lobbying has a negative association with firm performance. We find that the negative association of corporate lobbying on firm performance is largely driven by operationally complex firms. On the other hand, firms with high growth opportunities benefit more from lobbying than low-growth firms. Lobbying seems to provide limited tangible benefits in terms of government contracts obtained or the success of congressional bills passed. These results suggest that agency costs dominate the strategic benefits of lobbying activities. However, there is some evidence that firms benefit when there is political alignment between the firm and the party in power.

The robot is designed to induce lengthening of tubular organs (esophagus, intestines) by traction forces. Testing in swine shows cell proliferation and lengthening of the organ without a reduction in diameter, while the animal is awake, mobile, and able to eat normally

In vivo tissue regeneration with robotic implants. Dana D. Damian et al. Science Robotics, Vol. 3, Issue 14, eaaq0018. DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aaq0018

Abstract: Robots that reside inside the body to restore or enhance biological function have long been a staple of science fiction. Creating such robotic implants poses challenges both in signaling between the implant and the biological host, as well as in implant design. To investigate these challenges, we created a robotic implant to perform in vivo tissue regeneration via mechanostimulation. The robot is designed to induce lengthening of tubular organs, such as the esophagus and intestines, by computer-controlled application of traction forces. Esophageal testing in swine demonstrates that the applied forces can induce cell proliferation and lengthening of the organ without a reduction in diameter, while the animal is awake, mobile, and able to eat normally. Such robots can serve as research tools for studying mechanotransduction-based signaling and can also be used clinically for conditions such as long-gap esophageal atresia and short bowel syndrome.

No Evidence That Women’s Facial Attractiveness, Femininity, or Averageness Are Valid Health Cues

Cai, Ziyi, Amanda Hahn, Weiqing Zhang, Iris J Holzleitner, Anthony J Lee, Lisa M DeBruine, and Benedict C Jones. 2018. “No Evidence That Women’s Facial Attractiveness, Femininity, or Averageness Are Valid Health Cues.” Open Science Framework. January 11. https://osf.io/f9tu2/

Description: Previous reports that women with attractive faces are healthier have been widely cited as evidence that sexual selection has shaped human mate preferences. However, evidence for correlations between women’s physical health and facial attractiveness is equivocal. Moreover, positive results on this issue have generally come from studies of self-reported health in small samples. The current study took standardized face photographs of women who completed three different health questionnaires (Ns=582, 583, 572). Of these women, 221 also provided a saliva sample that was assayed for immunoglobulin A (a marker of immune function). Analyses showed no significant correlations between rated facial attractiveness and either scores on any of the health questionnaires or salivary immunoglobulin A. Furthermore, there was no compelling evidence that objective measures of sexual dimorphism or averageness of face shape were correlated with health. These null results do not support the prominent and influential assumption that women’s facial attractiveness is a health cue.

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Ronald Fisher's Sexy Son Hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexy_son_hypothesis

Respondents who are given an antinuclear climate of opinion are more likely to support the reduction of nuclear power plants when their answer is known to interviewers and respondents are prone to project “socially desirable” answers

The Spiral of Silence and the Crescendo of Voices -- Opinion Expression after Fukushima Nuclear Crisis. Ryosuke Imai, Airo Hino and Masahisa Endo. http://rubenson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/hino.pdf

Abstract: This paper examines the seminal spiral of silence hypothesis through a survey experiment  conducted in Japan. While the existing studies either rely on hypothetical questions in surveys or  experiments with selected samples, we tested the hypothesis with a real ongoing issue in Japan regarding the future of nuclear power plants after the Fukushima crisis based on nationwide random samples. In our experiment, different stimuli of climates of opinion and survey modes were randomly assigned to respondents based on a computer assisted survey program. We hypothesized that respondents who are given an antinuclear climate of opinion are more likely to support the reduction of nuclear power plants and that this only holds in the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) mode where their answer is known to interviewers and respondents are prone to project “socially desirable” answers. We expected that this also applies to respondents who are not given a climate of opinion and have to rely on their “quasi-statistical sense” in the midst of anti-nuclear atmosphere. Our results demonstrate the spiral of silence (and the crescendo of voicing a majority view) phenomenon for above groups of respondents and this was only confirmed in the CAPI mode while not in the CASI (Computer Assisted Self-administered Interview) mode where respondents complete the questionnaire in privacy by themselves.

The Amount and Source of Millionaires’ Wealth (Moderately) Predict Their Happiness

The Amount and Source of Millionaires’ Wealth (Moderately) Predict Their Happiness. Grant E. Donnell et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217744766

Abstract: Two samples of more than 4,000 millionaires reveal two primary findings: First, only at high levels of wealth—in excess of US$8 million (Study 1) and US$10 million (Study 2)—are wealthier millionaires happier than millionaires with lower levels of wealth, though these differences are modest in magnitude. Second, controlling for total wealth, millionaires who have earned their wealth are moderately happier than those who inherited it. Taken together, these results suggest that, among millionaires, wealth may be likely to pay off in greater happiness only at very high levels of wealth, and when that wealth was earned rather than inherited.

Keywords: happiness, income, money, wealth, well-being

Are Free Will Believers Nicer People? (four Studies Suggest Not)

Crone, Damien, and Neil L Levy. 2018. “Are Free Will Believers Nicer People? (four Studies Suggest Not)”. PsyArXiv. January 10. psyarxiv.com/zpj5x

Abstract: Free will is widely considered a foundational component of Western moral and legal codes, and yet current conceptions of free will are widely thought to fit uncomfortably with much research in psychology and neuroscience. Recent research investigating the consequences of laypeople’s free will beliefs (FWBs) for everyday moral behavior suggest that stronger FWBs are associated with various desirable moral characteristics (e.g., greater helpfulness, less dishonesty). These findings have sparked concern regarding the potential for moral degeneration throughout society as science promotes a view of human behavior that is widely perceived to undermine the notion of free will. We report four studies (combined N = 921) originally concerned with possible mediators and/or moderators of the abovementioned associations. Unexpectedly, we found no association between FWBs and moral behavior. Our findings suggest that the FWB – moral behavior association (and accompanying concerns regarding decreases in FWBs causing moral degeneration) may be overstated.

Face perception sources of constraint: the evolved structure of the brain; the need to optimise responses to different everyday tasks; and the statistical structure of faces in the perceiver’s environment

Faces, people and the brain: The 45th Sir Frederic Bartlett Lecture. Andrew W Young.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021817740275

Abstract: The fact that the face is a source of diverse social signals allows us to use face and person perception as a model system for asking important psychological questions about how our brains are organised. A key issue concerns whether we rely primarily on some form of generic representation of the common physical source of these social signals (the face) to interpret them, or instead create multiple representations by assigning different aspects of the task to different specialist components. Variants of the specialist components hypothesis have formed the dominant theoretical perspective on face perception for more than three decades, but despite this dominance of formally and informally expressed theories, the underlying principles and extent of any division of labour remain uncertain. Here, I discuss three important sources of constraint: first, the evolved structure of the brain; second, the need to optimise responses to different everyday tasks; and third, the statistical structure of faces in the perceiver’s environment. I show how these constraints interact to determine the underlying functional organisation of face and person perception.

Keywords: Face perception, person perception, face recognition, facial expressions, first impressions

Bayesian analysis of multimethod ego-depletion studies favours the null hypothesis

Etherton, J. L., Osborne, R., Stephenson, K., Grace, M., Jones, C. and De Nadai, A. (2018), Bayesian analysis of multimethod ego-depletion studies favours the null hypothesis. Br. J. Soc. Psychol.. doi:10.1111/bjso.12236

Abstract: Ego-depletion refers to the purported decrease in performance on a task requiring self-control after engaging in a previous task involving self-control, with self-control proposed to be a limited resource. Despite many published studies consistent with this hypothesis, recurrent null findings within our laboratory and indications of publication bias have called into question the validity of the depletion effect. This project used three depletion protocols involved three different depleting initial tasks followed by three different self-control tasks as dependent measures (total n = 840). For each method, effect sizes were not significantly different from zero When data were aggregated across the three different methods and examined meta-analytically, the pooled effect size was not significantly different from zero (for all priors evaluated, Hedges’ g = 0.10 with 95% credibility interval of [−0.05, 0.24]) and Bayes factors reflected strong support for the null hypothesis (Bayes factor > 25 for all priors evaluated).